The restaurant world is fast paced, can change on a dime and keeps their owners and managers awake many nights worried about low margins. However, one area where you can free yourself from additional stress is to add someone to your team that excels in the business of numbers, so you can return to the business of serving incredible food. Here are a few things to take into consideration when considering adding a restaurant accountant. See if these are areas where your restaurant might need some additional help.
An Accountant Improves Your Customer Service
With timely and on-target accounting, you can spot trends much faster by looking at up-to-date numbers. You notice which items really move on your menu and where you need to make some changes to keep patrons coming through the door. As well, with solid accounting information, you can better project peak periods to make certain staff adequately covers all of your customers’ needs at busy times. The opposite of this is that it allows you to maximize profits by staffing sparingly during projected lulls.
An Accountant Involves You in Priority Decisions
You need to keep the bulk of your energy on your customers and enticing them to return, not the minutia of bookkeeping and tax form preparation. You aren’t giving away financial control of the restaurant by hiring an accountant. You simply limit yourself to only the most significant financial tasks, such as reacting to identified trends and working with financial projections for efficient purchasing, staffing and capital expenditures.
An Accountant Prioritizes Your Cash Flow
It’s easy to get distracted in the restaurant business, from a delayed delivery to a broken piece of equipment to an illness running through the wait staff. However, restaurants who lose sight of their cash flow details quickly become, “the restaurant that used to be there.” What you don’t want is the experience of coming up short in cash on hand when an essential element of your menu jumps in wholesale price. A complete understanding of your cash flow situations at all times helps you plan for emergencies, such as unanticipated repairs or expenditures with built-in breathing room.
An Accountant Keeps You Ahead of the Tax Man
Restaurants often have a unique situation with income and tax reporting, such as differences between sales and receipts, operational fees, licensing cost, payroll taxes, tip compensation and minimum wage requirements. Whew! The last thing you want to worry about during your busy season is keeping records organized, forms filed and reports turned in promptly. Save your business penalties and fees – and a lot of headaches – by transferring the responsibility for tax record keeping to an accountant. You simply review the completed work, keeping the restaurant compliant and the government happy.
If you’re considering adding accounting staff to your restaurant or exploring virtual accounting help, talk to our experts. We offer customized solutions for restaurants of all sizes to help you keep your focus on creating a great dining experience.
